Classic Cowgoddess

It’s getting harder and harder to pick the Best Breastfeeding comic, because there are so many comics to choose from. I was a comic making machine back in 2006, I think, something like, 115 comics from that year alone; 100 in 2005, 70 in 2004, 50 in 2003, and 35 in 2002. That’s a lot of comics that you haven’t seen, am I right ladies and gentlemen? And that’s just the first half of my career, looks like you should buy some books ;o)

In 2006 I did a series of monthly Mothering Magazine sponsored chats, I self-published The Milk of Hathor, and my comics appeared in a Swedish magazine called Amningsnytt, Mother Verse Magazine, and a magazine in Finland called Imetysuutisia. Note that I’m HUGE in Scandinavia, odd that. My audience was growing like crazy.

we’re 4 years into my 10 year retrospective! I just wanted to let you know that when I say ‘best’, it’s pretty arbitrary. Here’s how I pick: I go though the list of comics until one makes me think, “Oh, I like that one!” then I pick it as ‘best’ and I don’t look anymore. So this is the one I picked for 2005 and colorized for your viewing pleasure. 2005 was a good year, I spoke at the Florida La Leche League Conference, I gave up looking for a publisher and published my first book, The Birth of Hathor. I had comics printed in an alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, a parenting magazine in Finland, a lactation focused magazine in Germany, and a whole slew of zines, including my own. Zines were awesome. If you can remember me or my comics from way back then, please say hi! in the comments below…

2004 was an interesting year for my breastfeeding comics, for one, I spent a lot of time pregnant and my second daughter weaned about 3 months in. Then, my third daughter had a riotous case of colic that pretty much brought me to my knees and made it near impossible to create comics in which I starred as a super-hero know-it-all, because come to find out, I knew absolutely nothing. I also went through a period where I scanned the comics in a low resolution and so later when I started making books had to go back and scan them all again, something I may almost be done with, finally.

In 2004 I spoke at a La Leche League Conference in North Carolina, I had a comic in Mothering Magazine, and an essay included in the book Mamaphonic; Balancing Motherhood and Other Creative Acts. The year was also noteworthy because I was standing in a circle of women one day and one of them said, “Hey, did you guys see this morning’s Hathor the Cowgoddess comic, I usually don’t like them but this one was pretty good…” All the other women started ahem-ing like crazy trying to shut her up in front of me, and all I could think was, “Dude, someone reads my comics!”

We’re counting down the ten best breastfeeding comics, one for each year that I’ve been in business. We’re up to 2003 now, you might have seen me in Hip Mama Magazine, or the zine Viva La Mama! or one of my own zines that I was publishing at the time. A very few may have seen me at one of my speaking engagements in the South East (I spoke on Parenting as Performance Art and the Politics of Parenting) Or on my blog, of course. My audience was growing, and this was one of the favorite comics from that time – now colorized for your viewing pleasure:

If you found my comics in 2003, or saw me speak that year, or bought one of my zines from that time, let me know in the comments!
Happy World Breastfeeding Week!